FA Cup/ West Ham Utd 0 Watford 1: Watching West Ham recalls the old gag about the non-swimmer who fell in the sewer: he just goes through the motions.

A glance at the table shows the Hammers are clearly up the Premiership's creek and the semblance of effort they displayed on Saturday suggests the paddle has been misplaced. Most worrying is that the manager, Alan Curbishley, does not seem to have a grip on things.

For a team in West Ham's position the FA Cup might have been considered a distraction but the effect this competition had in buoying the club last season must not be forgotten. Last year the Hammers coupled a valiant run to the final with a top-10 Premiership finish but that source of confidence has now run dry.

The manager, though, seemed unconcerned to have let the FA Cup slide here. "What I said to the players after the game is that I can't ask much more of them," said Curbishley. "I know the fans will look at that and say, 'Blimey, what's he on about?' But they tried their hardest."

He is right: the fans would be astonished by that assessment, since the jeers they directed at the players were the background music to an insipid second half. But Malky Mackay, the Watford player-coach who two years ago spent a Championship season at Upton Park, appeared to endorse the fans' frustrations.

"Just as the sign in the tunnel at Liverpool says 'This is Anfield', there's a reminder of West Ham's 'academy of football' status in front of the dug-outs here," he said. "But for the academy to flourish, you need desire and commitment as basic requirements."

Mackay said that recent acquisitions of big-name players on big-money contracts might in fact have had a negative effect. "It's a club in transition," he said. "Where they are going is none of my business."

Tact forbade him to spell it out but the subtext was clear: Curbishley has failed to gel the incomers with the incumbents.

"The confidence is a major factor," said the Hammers' manager. "The fans' confidence, the players' confidence. We have got to try to get it back and the only way we can do that is by winning some games."

That is only because Curbishley's personality and imagination will not turn things around. The manager hugs excuses like a comfort blanket. Take his response to the suggestion of a whimsical team-bonding exercise to try to inspire his troops, paint-balling or some such.

"No, I don't think there is anything in that," he said. "We have got so much football going on, though we will probably get a free weekend now.

"If you look at what has happened in the five or six weeks since we have been here, the injuries to certain areas of the team, it's just one thing after another, and we can't seem to get that settled. We get a decent result up at Newcastle but we can't keep the same side today."

Curbishley considers himself to be of the Alex Ferguson school of management. The pair are close. But where Ferguson is the undoubted monarch of his club, Curbishley cannot brandish trophies as a banner for his players to rally to.

The former Charlton manager forged a tremendous career at The Valley. But he finds himself with different problems at Upton Park; namely a collection of players who have no affection for him.

Anthony McNamee's hooked shot capitalised on Roy Carroll's error to provide Watford with a second successive win and they will be confident in their return to Upton Park in the Premiership in 12 days' time.

How does Curbishley see it? "What we wanted to do today was put a run together so players can go home feeling happy," he said. "But we have not managed to do that, so they are going home a bit down. But they have got to pick themselves up, because we have got a game in a couple of days (at home to Liverpool tomorrow)."

Inspirational stuff.

• Guardian Service